Famedio, Pistoia

Original Plans for Pantheon

Completed Pantheon

The Famedio or Pantheon of Illustrious Men (Pantheon degli Uomini Illustri) is a Neoclassic-style shrine or temple located at the end of a tree lined path, just off Piazza San Francesco #9, in Pistoia, region of Tuscany, Italy. The shrine was envisioned in 1812 as a secular memorial to famous men of Pistoia.

Description

The initial design was far grander, but the tumultuous events of the Napoleonic wars interrupted construction, such that it was not complete until the early 1820s in a much reduced scale.[1] The design was by Cosimo Rossi Melocchi.[2] The architecture has simple tapering Doric columns, that recall Egyptian temple columns, under rusticated temple facade with two angelic figures holding a central wreath around a checkered pattern, symbol of Pistoia. Melocchi would repeat his plans for a Pantheon in Villa Puccini a Scornio.[3] For some years, the site was used as a cafe.

References

1. Lecture by Laura Dominici Archived 2019-03-26 at the Wayback Machine on Pistoia celebra gli uomini illustri on 8 April 2008.
2. Le dimore di Pistoia e della Valdinievole, article by Gabriele Morolli, edited by Emilia Daniele, Associazione dimore storiche italiane. Sezione Toscana, Editrice Alinea, Florence (2004): page 40-41.
3. Pistoia e il suo territorio: Pescia e i suoi dintorni: guida del forestiero, by Giuseppe Tigri, Tipografia Cino, Pistoia (1853): page 293.

43.935803°N 10.910228°E / 43.935803; 10.910228